Engineers have little opportunity to rise into jobs that are sufficiently ‘sexy’ for today’s addled youth. Go talk to the kids, that’s what they’ll tell you.
Why are there 20X as many business majors than engineers and 100X as many law students? Because those professions are where the money is for the superstars. When a kid has already figured out that they’re not going to be the next Michael Jordan, Cindy Crawford or Jim Carrey, then they’ve got to figure out another path to that goal of superstardom. Following in Ken Lay’s footsteps seems like a good idea to lots of these dreamers. (this is the future of America!!!)
I went back for a masters in engineering last year. There were 3 American students and 32 foreign students in the incoming class. Of the 32, two were from Europe and the rest were from India, Taiwan or China.
America is doomed long-term. Our populace is filled with far too many fat/dumb/ignorant people who feel entitled to a phat salary and all the perks without ever trying, because they see so many others getting that for nothing.
As long as we believe in the lottery, nothing will change.
